


Towards the Future

by Komatsu



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Edea has children in this one, F/M, Future Fic, Ringabel does not, Ringabel's life is pain, Tearjerker, Time Shenanigans, i cried multiple times writing this, if they don't reunite in B3 I'm gonna riot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 08:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15968729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komatsu/pseuds/Komatsu
Summary: Ringabel has finally finished the Planeswarden business and looks forward to returning to Eternia. He wants to go back to his home, back to his friends, back to Edea.There's one problem. The world he returns to is a world fifty-years removed from the one he left. Is there anything left of his old time, his old life? Is there anything left of the love he left behind?





	Towards the Future

He found out the hard way that time passed differently between the different worlds.

It was his last assignment, he was promised. After this, he could go _home_ , back to the world in which he had left his friends. Back to a world that he wanted to make his own, the one he'd chosen to spend the rest of his life in. Back to the world where Edea was waiting.

Back to a world that couldn't remember him any longer.

He knew something was wrong the minute Eternia came into view from the airship. It had changed tremendously, far too much to be a mere few years. Ringabel's eyes narrowed as he took in the expansion of the city, the bright lights that cascaded out into the mountains. The city had stretched so far that now it connected to a port on the coast, and it was there that he moored his airship.

"I'm sorry," he said to the man who checked him in. "Can you remind me of the date? I've lost track."

The man looked at him, then to the airship that was floating in the ocean, and laughed. "No wonder you have! I haven't seen an airship like that in years. Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift," Ringabel fibbed. "From my grandfather. The date, please."

"August 17th."

That told him nothing, and yet he wasn't prepared to ask for the year, not when anxiety was building in his stomach, making his chest tight. He nodded to the man, paid for a week's worth of airship space (thankfully, his pg was still good), and headed off to find a newspaper.

When he finally picked one up from the small shop down the street, his heart froze in his chest.

August 17th, Ducal Year 66.

"Sir? Everything okay?" the shopkeep asked him. Ringabel had broken into a cold sweat.

"I-I'm fine," Ringabel said, but then clamped his mouth shut before he vomited, and hurried away, clenching the newspaper tight in his fist.

Year 66.

Year 66.

It had been nearly 50 years since he had last set foot in this word.

* * *

 

It took him hours before he felt well enough to force himself to read the newspaper. He had actually thrown up, just barely making it into the scant wilderness that separated the port from the rest of the expanding city. There was construction nearby, but they paid him no mind as he emptied his stomach into the bushes, tears mixing with his bile. The newspaper escaped the mess, and after he no longer had the energy to retch, he dragged himself into a small cafe that promised coffee.

Coffee, at least, would never change.

As he sipped from his scalding cup, so numb that he could barely feel the heat, he read the news with shaking hands. There were advertisements of plays going on, job postings for White Mages and Crystal Guards as well as a myriad of positions he'd never even heard of before, talk about the weather (always snowy), talk about current events…

Talk about the Grand Marshal, Sir Tain Lee. He was leading renovations on Everlast Tower, in preparation for the 50th anniversary next year, of the day when the Wind Vestal of the time had purged the world of darkness, with his mother, Edea Lee, at her side.

Not even hot coffee could chase out the chill in his chest. So… Edea had had a child. At least one child, perhaps even more. Were they _his_ , or had she met someone else?

He couldn't blame her, could he? 50 years was a long time for someone to wait, no matter how much they might love another. He absolutely didn't blame her. If the alternative was that Edea spent her entire life miserable and alone, then he would have set her up with someone himself, if he had to.

Self-loathing filled him, fueled by angry, hurt thoughts. Was she at least happy? How long before she had moved on? Did she sometimes think of him, even now? … Was she even alive?

Self-loathing kept him from entering the city itself for a few more days. Instead, he rented a room in one of the roadside inns and spent his time locked in his room, unable to find the energy or the willpower to do anything besides lay on the bed and stare up at the ceiling, lost. It was as if his entire life had been wasted. _Now_  what was he to do? He had sacrificed so much, and he had sacrificed _everything_ , because now his life was over. Everything he had worked so hard for… gone.

He was being stupid.

Three days after checking in, Ringabel dragged himself out of bed and took a long shower. He ate. He purchased a razor from the front desk so that he could shave. He brushed his hair with one of the combs provided. He went out and bought a few changes of clothes, a nice pack to carry it all in.

Then, he entered Eternia. He would have walked straight through to Central Command, but now there were trains that connected the base to the city that had been built in the 50 years since his last visit.

"Hello," he said to one of the guards standing at the gate. They looked warily at him. He was not the only one visiting Central Command that day, but he wasn't sure how many citizens would freely approach the guards in such a way.  At first, he had considered breaking in and bypassing the guards all together, but that would either get him killed or get him arrested, likely. "How do I get an audience with the Grand Marshal?"

"Ah," the guard said, nodding. "When you enter, there's a chamber on your left. Simply fill in some paperwork, and we'll give you a call when it's accepted and give you your appointment date. The wait is anywhere from between six - eight weeks. If it's urgent, we suggest setting up a meeting with the mayor or a deputy instead."

Ringabel took a deep breath. "My name is Alternis Dim," he replied. He held up a tattered journal, flipped it open to the sketch of Edea, Tiz, and Agnès from long ago. It was all he had to identity himself. The man's eyes narrowed, and he glanced between the book and Ringabel. "And I would like to speak with the Grand Marshal as soon as possible. Please."

The guard's hand tightened on his sword. "How _dare_  you," he started, but he was stopped by a captain, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

"What did you say your name was?" the captain asked him, looking him over. He was older than the guard, with gray at his temples.

"Alternis Dim," Ringabel replied. Was _Alternis_  alive anymore? Did they even know who he was or was he impersonating a living man?

"Wait one moment," the captain said, and gestured to another soldier standing nearby. They spoke quickly, glancing back at him, before the captain pulled something out of his coat and began to whisper into it, arguing. There was a long, awkward pause before he spoke up, looking up at Ringabel. "Come with me, sir."

Ringabel wondered if he was about to get led somewhere to get murdered, but - he had nothing left to lose. Nothing to gain except closure. He followed the captain closely.

He was led to the right, to a small room where his pack was searched and his thumbprint was recorded. The other door in the room led to the corridor, then to the elevator, which had been greatly improved. From there, they ascended to the 40th floor, and the guard continued on through a set of what looked like offices. The Grand Marshal's office was at the very end of the area. His name was engraved on a plaque at the door.

Guards were posted outside the room, and all of them looked at him curiously. Ringabel barely had eyes for them, his heart pounding his throat.

"You may enter," the captain told him, opening the door. "We'll be outside," he said now. It was a warning.

The office was very warm, despite the chill outside, and despite the coldness in Ringabel's heart. The Grand Marshal was sitting at a desk, reading over a bit of paperwork. When the door closed, he glanced up from his work and froze. Recognition, confusion, then resignation dawned on his features.

Ringabel recognized him, too. The newspaper article hadn't had a photo of him, but it was quite obvious who the man's father had been, now that he could see him. His hair was a light-blonde, close to his own, and his eyes were hazel. His nose had that annoying little point to it that Ringabel had hated on his own features, but he realized now looked good when combined with Edea's.

"Hello," Tain said, setting aside his papers. "So. You are, you must be... Ringabel, aren't you? I'm sorry, they told me I had a guest, but - "

Ringabel swallowed, his throat burning. "And you're Tain Lee, yes?"

Tain cocked an eyebrow at him, the expression looking so much like his grandfather that it _hurt_. "You know me?"

"I read the newspapers."

There was a painful silence before Tain gestured for him to have a seat. Ringabel took the invitation, sitting stiffly on the other side of the large, wooden desk. It wasn't the same one that Braev had had in his office 50 years ago. He wondered what had happened to it. So that he might have more proof of his identity, he placed his tattered journal on the tesk. Tain regarded it for a moment before looking back up at him.

"You... look younger than I expected," Tain said. He was looking Ringabel over warily. "How is that possible? How are you here now?"

"I… I wish I knew myself," Ringabel confessed, reaching a hand up to tug it through his hair. He hadn't styled it in a pompadour, which was just as well. He felt like a mess, and he was sure he looked it too. "I swear, it's been only a few years since I was last here. Not even a few years!"

"And yet, it's been more than a few years here."

"I saw this, once or twice. Differences in the time passed between two worlds. But never something so extreme. I…" Ringabel was beginning to panic, his chest heaving as he once again remembered that the world he'd once known was no longer, and this time, there was no going back. _Time_  did not go back. "My work kept me between worlds. They didn't warn me the time in this one passed more quickly than others. I didn't know this could happen, I _swear_  it. Believe me, I - " He babbled, trying to say everything that he could to explain why, when even he himself didn't know.

"Are you alright?" Tain asked, concerned. He began to stand.

Ringabel held up a hand, gasping. "I'm fine," he managed to get out. His mind was screaming, his heart was tearing itself into tatters, but he was here to get _answers_. "I just need to know - _please_ \- "

"Mother's alive," the man said, and the fear that Ringabel had felt vanished in an instant. He took a deep, shuddering breath. Things were terrible, but relief filled him for one moment. Edea was alive. "She's retired."

"Retired?"

Tain seemed hesitant to provide many details. Ringabel could understand the need to be cautious around a man who had reappeared after 50 years with no word. "... In Regen, with our family."

"Alright. I'm... I'm glad," Ringabel said, swallowing hard. Edea was alive. She probably hated him, if she even remembered him, but she was alive. Right now, that was all he could possibly ask for. "Regen?"

Tain thought for a moment. "It used to be called Gravemark, 40 years ago, until my mother and father revived it."

"Your father. Is he…?" Was his father still alive, too? Ringabel couldn't imagine a Dark Knight living to this age, but he had to know.

And he was right. Tain shook his head, looking pained. "No, he… he passed away when I was but a boy. Mother raised us largely herself."

"I'm sorry," Ringabel replied, truly meaning it. It was _his fault_  that Edea's children had grown up without their father, wasn't it? If he had returned sooner, perhaps Tain and his siblings would be _his_ , and he could have stayed alive for them. It was a terribly selfish thought. He knew Alternis wouldn't have made the decision to leave his wife and children if he'd had the choice. Being without a parent while growing up was hard, both men had known that well.

"I'm not sure what to say," Tain admitted after another awkward silence. "Mother used to tell us stories about you. She said that you had promised to return. Still, to see you now…  I'm shocked. Especially with how you look."

"It wasn't meant to be like this," Ringabel pleaded. "I wanted to return to her as soon as I could, but work kept me… it kept me busy. I swear it!" Even now, though he was no longer employed by the Planeswardens, he had to be careful with what he shared.

Tain took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply. His hazel eyes, so like Ringabel's own, closed as he thought. "I'll be honest. She stopped talking about you years ago, but I know she likely still wonders why you never returned."

"Time-!"

Tain held up a hand, in a gesture so like Braev that Ringabel wondered if he'd had a hand raising the man. There was no possible way that Braev was alive now, but had he and Mahzer lived to see Edea have children? "I'm not the one you need to be saying this to. I… as Edea's son, I want my mother to know the truth. I want her to have that closure before it's too late."

"Is she sick?" Ringabel asked, biting his lip. They had been worried Edea would have Mahzer's constitution as years went by.

"Not at all," Tain replied, looking relieved. "She's as healthy as can be. She's just getting on in years, as expected. She's nearly in her seventies."

Ringabel let out his breath, his chest tight. Nearly seventy. It didn't matter, he thought. She would be just as beautiful as she had always been. "I want to see her, please," he managed to whisper, and the tears that had been threatening to spill out of his eyes finally overflowed. They slid down his cheeks onto his hands, and he reached a hand up to scrub them away. 

Tain had a pack of tissue under his desk that he reached for, handing the box over to Ringabel, who silently took one.

"I'm sorry," Ringabel said when he thought he could. "It's just that everything has changed so much, and I'm not prepared for any of it. I swear to you that I had expected to return sooner than this, I swear it. I would _never_ have left her for so long."

"There's nothing to be done about it now," Tain said quietly, his eyebrows furrowed. "You _are_  back now, and though it may not be quite the same time as Mother expected, I think she would want to know that you did manage to uphold your promise to her to return. It might make her feel better, certainly, to know why you took so long."

"It wasn't her," Ringabel said, dabbing at her eyes. "It was the Planeswardens." And if he _ever_  saw the Vice President again, he might just murder the man. Ringabel had missed out his entire life by missing out on Edea's.

"I'll need to ask you more about them later," Tain said. "Not right now. Ringabel, do you know what tomorrow is?"

"The date? I'm not sure." He had lost track of the date. He had lost track of everything.

"It's August 21st tomorrow," Tain informed him.

Ringabel stared blankly at him for a moment before it dawned on him. "It's Edea's birthday," he breathed. How old would she be?

"It is," Tain nodded. "And every year since she has retired, I've gone up to Regen to spend a few days with her and my sisters. I'm leaving tonight."

"Oh."

"If you would like to join me, you may. In fact, I ask that you do. If you decide to see her, I would prefer it to be where I can keep an eye on you both."

Ringabel licked dry, chapped lips and stared at the desk in front of him. This was not the reunion he had dreamed of, not by a long shot. In his fantasies, the ones that had kept him going during some of the worst of his assignments, she had been so happy to see him. So relieved. She had run into his open arms and he had spun her around and kissed her all over and then they would be married and have ten children, and…

"Yes," he finally said, voice barely more than a whisper. "I'd like to see her. I need her to know I still love her." It wouldn't be the same, but he already couldn't forgive himself for leaving her for so long. He would never forgive himself if he didn't see her now when he finally had the chance. Even if Edea didn't love him anymore, even if she had moved on, and she cursed his name, he at least wanted to fulfill that promise from long ago. He wanted her to know that he'd never forgotten her. That, at least, he could still do for her.

Tain nodded, and when he was quiet for a moment, Ringabel looked up to see the older man  pressing his lips tightly together, blinking his eyes rapidly. Ah, so Tain could be emotional as well, just as Alternis - and himself - could be. "I think Mother would appreciate seeing you," Tain finally managed to say. "That's all she ever wanted. She deserves it, after all this time. With all she went through as she raised us, she..."

"She deserves much more," Ringabel supplied for him. Edea deserved so many wonderful things he had promised himself to give her, promises that had died in a time long ago.

"Well, yes," Tain said. "She does. I hope that allowing you to meet with her, she'll get at least some of her hope back."

"I promise you," Ringabel started, already knowing how weak his promises were. "That I will do everything in my power to … I can't make this up to her, but anything I can do for her, I will. I have no intention of leaving this world again. If Edea accepts, I have no intention of leaving _her_  again."

"You're a bit young to be my stepfather," Tain said dryly, and Ringabel gave a weak laugh. He wasn't sure exactly how old Tain was, but there _was_ seemingly a few years difference in their ages. "But that's Mother's decision to make."

"It always has been." Except when time had cruelly made the decision for them.

"I'm leaving tonight after I'm done with my work for the day," Tain said now. "We've got some guest rooms in the top floors of the tower, if you'd like to sleep until then. We should get to Gravemark a little after nightfall; Mother knows when to expect us."

"Ah, v-very well," Ringabel said. Something like hope stirred in his chest. Tain was being so kind to someone so lost out of time. His mother had raised him well. "If you don't mind, I think I will take you up on that offer."

"If you change your mind at any time, send a message with the guards. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to. Do you know where you might go if you do leave?"

"I don't," Ringabel confessed. "All of my plans up to a week ago revolved around coming home to Eternia, to Edea. I don't have any idea what else there is to go _to_." He supposed, that if he didn't see Edea tonight, he could maybe try to make his way to Norende. Perhaps Tiz and Agnès were still alive. If not them, Egil was certainly still living. Florem at least might be the same, a distracting refuge? Or, he could just let himself die, an unwelcome relic of an age past.

He had to drag himself out his darker thoughts as Tain rang a bell under the desk. The door opened, and a guard looked in, hand on his sword. "Sir?"

Tain smiled at the guard. "Robert, can you escort my guest to one of the open rooms on the 50th floor? Let Clarissa know, so she can have dinner sent to him. Tell her that he'll be joining us when we leave tonight."

Ringabel looked questioningly at him. "Clarissa?"

"My wife," Tain replied. "She runs Central Command while I run Eternia."

"I see," Ringabel said. Ah, that made sense - Tain was old enough to have married long ago. Did they have children as well? Was _Edea_  a grandmother?

"Yes sir," the guard, Robert, said, relaxing. He gestured for Ringabel to follow him, and Ringabel, who had no other choice, made to leave. He was being dismissed. For once, he didn't fully mind. He needed some time to himself, to cry into a pillow or otherwise deal with the storm of emotions in his chest.

"Ringabel?"  Tain said, just as Ringabel made it to the door. Both Ringabel and Robert stopped, looking back at Tain. Ringabel took a deep breath.

"Yes?" he replied, looking back at the Grand Marshal, who in another time, could have been his son. In this world, they were strangers.

"You know, Mother gave me the middle name of Ringabel," the older man said, giving him a rueful smile. "She claimed she couldn't inflict it upon an innocent child as a first name, but that it still belonged to the strongest, kindest man she'd ever known. She'd hoped I'd inherit some of your qualities."

Ringabel choked, tears spilling anew out onto his cheeks. He clamped a hand to his mouth.

"I see," he managed to say through a throat that burned with grief. "Edea was - is - the strongest, kindest woman that I know. You… you get those qualities from her."

"... She always loved you. I never understood why until now. Please get some rest."

To his embarrassment, he had to be led back to the elevators by a sympathetic Robert, who let go of his sword to guide Ringabel by the elbow. By the time they made it to the guest floor, the tissue he'd been given was soaked through.

He spent the remainder of the day in the guest bedroom, curling up on the bed and staring at the opposite wall with eyes that ached, filled with tears. He faded in and out of awareness, mind lost in a haze of confusion, grief, and anger. This wasn't what he'd had planned. None of this was planned. 

Would Edea even want to see him? Would she even remember him? Would she recognize him? He had not changed, but she mostly certainly had. How much did she hate him? Would she let him explain, beg forgiveness? Or would she coldly shut him out of the remainder of her life, as she probably ought to? Would she at least let him say goodbye properly? Or would she ask him to stay? He had planned to spend the rest of his life with her, and now… how long would the rest of _her_  life be? It wasn't  _fair_.

Clarissa came to bring dinner to her himself, though with a guard, sometime in the late afternoon. She was beautiful and tall, with dark hair and bright green eyes, and she let herself into the room when he didn't answer her knocking, too exhausted to move from the bed. When she took in the sight of his tear-streaked face and puffy eyes, she immediately set about to fussing over him. She and the guard bullied Ringabel into a chair, bullied him into forcing down food that tasted like ash, and bullied him into washing his face in the kitchenette sink.

The bullying was appreciated. Ringabel slowly felt life overtake the heaviness of grief in his limbs, and by the time his face was once more clean (though his eyes still hurt), he felt a bit better. Edea wouldn't be sympathetic to tears. She usually wasn't. If he wanted to see her and give her his best face, he'd have to be a little stronger.

"Don't you feel better?" Clarissa asked him as he patted his face dry with a dishtowel. The guard was standing by the door, still under orders to escort the Grand Marshal's wife around the guest, but reassured that said guest was mostly just a harmless fool.

"I do," he said gratefully. "Thank you."

She smiled very kindly at him. "Tain's wrapping up work now, so we'll be leaving by six. It won't take us but two hours to take the train to Regen. Do you need anything before we go?"

He needed to reverse time and go back to when he'd first left Edea, so that he could change his mind and never make that mistake in the first place. He needed to go to the Planeswardens to demand _why_  they had allowed this to happen to him, after everything he had done for them. He needed to prepare to beg Edea for forgiveness, he needed to brace himself for seeing her once more, he needed to finish resolving himself that she would simply scorn him for wasting his life, and hers. He needed…

"No," he told her. "I'm fine. If you don't mind, I'll just rest until then."

She nodded. "Of course. We've got guards in the halls at all times, so if you do decide you need something, just poke your head out and give a holler. Tain and I will come to get you ourselves, if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful," he decided. They likely lived in Braev's old quarters, which had become Edea's old quarters since, he supposed. That meant they would be close by. "I will see you then."  He managed to give her a smile, which was not quite as brilliant as the smiles he had given women years ago on the original journey to awaken the crystals, a journey that been both seven and fifty years ago, but it was his best effort.

When she left him alone, he found he had the energy to rifle through the books left on the writing desk in the corner of the room. He had some studying to do.

The train system connected to Central Command to both Eternia as well as the different regions that the country had been split up into in the fifty years since Ringabel had last seen it. Regen was in the northeast region, and due to the significance it held to the Grand Marshals, had its own station on the line. They could take the train directly to the town, without having to worry about walking or riding in a carriage, as other villages in the region might.

Ringabel sat in the window seat and watched the landscape fly by. It was a snowy landscape, as expected, and it was getting dark, but he could see the beautiful trees and mountains clearly, even so.

"I'm impressed Eternia's technology grew so fast," Ringabel said to Tain, who was sitting beside him and reading a book. Clarissa, who was across from them, had some knitting on her lap. "In my time, there was nothing like this." It was still odd to think he had _his time_ , but it was still the truth.

"When we stopped fighting the world and started working with them, we accomplished many things," Tain said, looking up and out the window. "It was Mother's goal. She wanted to work toward peace and growth."

"I'm not surprised. She didn't like that Eternia had started wars in the other world regions," Ringabel said, and found that though his chest ached when he talked about Edea, he could still speak with ease. Edea had been so loving and so smart. She'd only wanted what was good for the people, and what was good for Eternia. He was glad to know she'd been a good Grand Marshal.

"Sometimes, I feel as though the legacy she left is too great," Tain confessed. "She did a lot for the country, and people still think fondly of her. I ask her for advice, now and then."

Ringabel smiled. "That's the mark of a good leader. Knowing when to seek the help of others."

Tain gave him an appraising glance. "Mother says the same thing."

Ringabel swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to think about Edea. So he would have to force a change of subject. Sort of. "When did she retire?" At the thickness in his voice, Clarissa looked up from her knitting, but said nothing, though her eyes narrowed at him as if she was preparing to be a bully again.

Tain thought to himself. "It's been almost ten years now. My youngest sister was graduating from the military academy, and I suppose Mother decided she had nothing else to keep her in Eternia. So she gave me a trial, tested me to see if I could make it as Grand Marshal, and left."

"That sounds like her," Ringabel replied, completely ignoring that he'd wanted to change the topic.

Tain chuckled. "Two months later, my youngest sister was announcing that she was getting married and expecting a child, so Mother ended up moving back to help her. She claims she was getting bored anyway, but I think she didn't want to be alone, and since Cerise's husband is in the military, she didn't want her to go through the same thing that she'd faced as a mother."

"How many siblings do you have?" Ringabel asked.

"Two sisters," Tain replied, seemingly much more at ease with supplying Ringabel with such personal information now that he had gotten to know him better. "Cerise, who is twenty-seven, and Marie, who just turned twenty-nine. You'll meet them today."

Ringabel took a deep breath. "I'm sure they must be just as beautiful as their mother is," he said, and now the look Tain gave him was of a brother not sure if he should be worried or not. Ringabel hastened to clarify. "Your mother and her mother were both beautiful women. It runs in the family."

Tain paused. "You're right," he finally said. "My grandmother passed away a few years ago, but I even now I think she was the prettiest person I'd ever known, aside from my mother. And aside from you, of course," he said to his wife, who grinned at him.

"You say that because you have to," she told him, and he had the grace to look sheepish.

"That isn't the only reason, I promise, my darling."

Ringabel watched the married couple banter back and forth, though pain once again spiked in him. This could have been him and Edea. This _should_  have been him and Edea, if only… if only he had not been fifty years too late.

It was dark by the time they arrived in Regen, but the streets were well-lit and a carriage was already waiting for them. Ringabel took on the train station and looked out over the sprawling town.

It was… beautiful. What had once been a collection of decaying wooden crosses was now a memorial of carved stone statues. He could see engravings of what was likely names, though it was too dark to make out any of them. The whole cemetery was surrounded by a fence, blocking off the dead from the living, but covered in vines of winter flowers and evergreens.

The town itself was fairly large, by town standards. Light shone over the graves from the collection of homes, businesses, and signs. He couldn't see the other end from the station, except for dots of light here and there. The homes were wooden, looked sturdy, and the streets were large and clear. It looked like a good place to live.

"Ringabel!" he heard Tain call his name from the carriage. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming!" Ringabel replied, hurrying off. He made a note to visit the graveyard later, wondering if Braev and Mahzer had been laid to rest in this place. If _Alternis_  had been laid to rest in this place.

The Lee family home was no longer the rundown cottage that had stood, half-rotted in the snow. Now it was a large manor set to the edge of the village. A large fence surrounded the home; a team of guards waved them through. Ringabel supposed the security made sense when the family of the Grand Marshal lived there. The carriage was brought into a shed in the back, where the three of them handed off their suitcases (in Ringabel's case, his pack) to some of the staff, shook snow out of their hair, hung up their wet jackets, and entered the house from a covered walkway.

Ringabel was shivering, and it wasn't with the cold. Dread was filling him. Edea was just feet away. Any moment now, he'd finally see her, bringing to a close years of torment for them both. His breath came hard and fast as Tain opened the door leading to the sitting room, let Clarissa inside before him, then stood waiting for Ringabel.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tain asked him, brows furrowed. Clarissa turned around to watch them. "If you're not ready, Mother's already waited this long. She can wait - "

"No," Ringabel replied, and resolve gripped his weeping heart. "She _has_  waited this long. It's been long enough." If he had to wait any longer to see her, the pain in his chest would kill him.

"Can you get Cerise?" Tain asked Clarissa. "I sent her a message earlier. Let's make sure she got it before he comes in."

Cerise was young and beautiful and looked so much like Edea. He stared at her, confused for a moment, mind lost with grief before he could piece together that her hair was cut short, and that her eyes were a darker color of blue. She had his freckles.

"Who is this?" Cerise demanded of her brother once she spotted Ringabel. "Who is this?!"

"Cerise," Tain said with the patience of a man who was used to demanding younger sisters. "This is Ringabel."

She stared at him, mouth open. He felt his eyes water once more. She looked him over, really looked him over, then glanced between him and her brother. "Mother is going to kill you. She's going to kill you both. How?  _Why_?"

"It's a long story," Ringabel offered. "I … it's difficult to explain."

"Can you make sure the kids are busy?" Tain asked his sister now. "He wants to see her."

Cerise was just as protective as their mother as her brother had been, if not more so. "Now?" the woman hissed, her eyes narrowing. "He's been gone since before we were born, and he wants to see her _now_? And he's so young - are you sure this is even the right guy?"

Tain may have been the Grand Marshal, but he was also an older brother. Ringabel felt a smile quirk his lips as the other man rolled his eyes. "He looks just like Father did. And he says that time passes differently between worlds. He's got the journal. That's not something just anyone would have."

"Tain, Mom's been so happy lately…" Cerise started begging, and the smile on Ringabel's lips dropped as pain spiked in his stomach. Edea had been happy lately, and now he was going to ruin it all, wasn't he?

"It's not up to you to decide if Mother gets closure after all these years," Tain said. "You know she used to talk about him, you _know_  she's missed him. Come on, Cerise. You can't keep her from knowing the truth."

"I can leave," Ringabel said, and the siblings looked at him. "I don't want to upset her," he told them and his vision of them went blurry. "If you think it's best that I not see her, then I will respect your wishes. I would never want to hurt her, believe me. As long as she knows the truth, t-that I came back and that I still love her, that's all I could ever want."

Cerise was quiet, before she reached into her pocket with a sigh and pulled out a handkerchief. She gave it to him, and he patted his wet cheeks.

"You better know what you're doing," she hissed at her brother, and then turned into the house, calling out the names of what Ringabel assumed were her children, judging by the answering thunder of feet.

"Come inside," Tain sighed, and when Ringabel stepped into the warm home, he shut the door.

Inside, it was homey and bright. Paintings covered the wall, some of them in a style that looked vaguely familiar to Ringabel. He could see photographs of the family, mostly of the children, but a few of the adults, including what looked like a family portrait. Even from afar, and even though she was much older than in his memories, he could recognize Edea.

"Is Tain here?" he heard a voice call from upstairs, and his heart stopped in his chest.

He could recognize that voice _anywhere_ , though age had deepened it. As he tried to restart his heart and his breathing, Edea's footsteps came down the stairs, and Tain grabbed his elbow to steer him into a sitting room.

"Sit down," Clarissa suggested, and she pulled up a chair for him, sat in her own beside him as he blinked rapidly at the carpet.

"Hello Mother," he heard Tain say from just outside the room. The door had been closed. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, son. I'm so happy to see you," Edea said warmly. There was a pause. Ringabel was trying to imagine what she was doing now, perhaps hugging her child. "You're later than usual. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. Is Marie here yet?"

"She'll arrive tomorrow. Did you need her?"

"No, no, not right now. Clarissa wanted to talk to her about some work she needed done - but, well, that's not important. Mother, I have something to tell you."

Ringabel braced himself.

"What is it?"

There was a small scuffle of wood against wood; perhaps Tain was making Edea sit down? Good decision.

"Someone came to my office today, who wants to see you."

Edea was quiet for a dreadfully long time. Ringabel tried to control his breathing before he had a panic attack in the room.  "And? Who is it?" There was something in the tone of her voice that made his heart ache. A dying ember of hope, flaring back to life.

"Mother, I want you to know that - they only want to see you. That's all. You don't need to do anything but talk to them, and if you want, I'll have them sent back to Central Command immediately. It's your call."

"Tain, who. Is. It." Edea demanded.

"He says… no, I'll show you," Tain said, and Ringabel heard the sound of the chair moving as Edea stood, and then the two were walking to the closed door, and then the door was opening, and Ringabel stood shakily to his feet, clutching the armrests of the chair for strength.

Tain had opened the door, and Edea now stood beside him in the doorway.

For the first time in four years, first time in forty-six years, their eyes met.

Ringabel couldn't breathe. Edea was just as beautiful as the last time he'd seen her. Her hair had gone silver with age, but it was just as wild as ever, and though she no longer wore a bow, he could see a blue hair-clip that kept it out of her eyes. She'd aged, obviously, with wrinkles on her face and on the hands that clutched at her chest now as she stared at him, but other than that she was just the same as ever. Her eyes were as clear and strong as they had ever been, if not confused as she looked him over.

"... Ringabel?" she whispered, and he could see with a pang tears glimmering in those eyes he'd loved so much. "Is that really… how? How is that you?"

"I'm back," he managed to say. "I'm back, Edea."

Edea held a hand to her forehead, leaned against her son for support, before she looked up at Ringabel again. Tain had his arm tight around his mother's shoulder to hold her, and from behind him, Cerise was visible, glaring at the whole situation.

"You're back, you're actually... back," Edea said and his heart broke again as tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, she looked up at him with anger in her eyes, and somehow he knew it would be alright. "You have a lot of explaining to do, mister."

He offered her the strongest smile that he could, which was still fairly weak. "I know. Will you listen?"

She was already nodding, already moving away from her son to go toward him, and Ringabel closed the distance between them to take her into his arms, clutching her tightly as his tears soaked into her gray hair.

 _This_ time, he was not letting her go.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so here's some notes for the whole thing:
> 
> Agnes passed away a few years ago, Tiz is still alive and living in Norende. He has five kids and a whole flock of grandchildren.
> 
> Yew and Magnolia are both still alive (Ringabel, who is not close to them at all, doesn't have them on his radar) in Gathelatio.
> 
> Edea got to be thirty years old and felt her biological clock ticking. By then, she had developed feelings for Alternis, and while the two of them agreed they wouldn't marry (because Edea was still in love with Ringabel and didn't think it fair to marry Alternis if she couldn't devote her whole heart to him), but they wanted to have children together, and live together. They have 3 kids. Edea was 33 when she had Tain, 37 with Marie, and 39 with Cerise.
> 
> Due to her age, her pregnancy with Cerise was difficult. She was also in the middle of it when problems erupted in Eisenberg. As the problems stemmed from the Eternian occupation years ago, Alternis went to Eisenberg to try and calm things down. He was killed in an explosion while stationed there, and the shock caused Edea to go into labor early, leading to a very long hospital stay for them both. Due to all of that, she's very protective of her youngest daughter.
> 
> Tain is married to Clarissa (who is from Ancheim) and the two of them have an 8-year-old daughter. She is usually at school, but sees the family every holiday and weekend.
> 
> Marie is living the single life and does studies in Al Khampis on geology and thermal energy or some nerdy stuff. Edea insists she inherited all the nerdy aspects of her father.
> 
> Cerise married two months out of military school because she met a nice guy there and the two of them fell in love. She was also pregnant two months out of military school because of the same guy (he is currently deployed overseas). They have three kids, who Edea helps her raise.
> 
> When Cerise graduated, Edea realized she didn't have to stay in Eternia anymore, so she made Tain look for the shield and sword as Braev did to her, and once he passed the test, handed the country over to him and retired to Yulyana Woods. By then, however, Braev had passed away and Mahzer was staying full time in the Central Healing Tower (she would die a couple of years later), and so Edea was by herself. When Cerise announced she was expecting, Edea moved partially because she wasn't going to let her daughter raise kids at that young of an age by herself (her parents had helped her after Alternis died), but also because she didn't want to be alone. 
> 
> Alternis was in fact, laid to rest in Regen (whose name I borrowed from Tree). Edea would make a comment that least one of her loves would return to her, at least so she could bury him. He was 44 when he died. After his death, Braev and Mahzer returned to Eternia to help her raise three young children.
> 
> Edea never stopped hoping that Ringabel would return.


End file.
